I’d believe it if he were given more airtime on HNIC. But check out any coach’s corner of late: about a third of the time is dedicated to Cherry talking about what he’d show if he had more time. In contrast, shock-jocks get entire, hours-long shows to themselves.

If CBC/Rogers were actually playing out a cost-benefit scenario, and if people actually wanted to hear more of the sad old man’s ramblings, wouldn’t you expect Cherry to have much more time to do his thing?

]]>By: Rhino40http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2014/01/11/caps-bench-especially-karl-alzner-very-excited-about-john-erskines-knockout-punch-gif/#comment-50468
Sun, 12 Jan 2014 15:18:00 +0000http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/?p=59975#comment-50468Both and neither. I’m just saying that, when discussing Cherry, one cannot overlook his…somewhat flamboyant wardrobe. As for where I stand on his statements: I, too am sometimes offended by the things he says. But I think his continued presence on HNIC is the result of some very cynical cost-benefit analysis at CBC headquarters. He’s kind of like a radio shock-jock…or even a car crash: We all know we shouldn’t look, but we kinda have to.

I guess Canada’s own version of the Smothers Brothers probably say it best, in a video that has somehow–inexplicably–been made “private”.

John Walton recently described him as “wearing my grandparents’ curtains,” or something like that.

]]>By: Rhino40http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2014/01/11/caps-bench-especially-karl-alzner-very-excited-about-john-erskines-knockout-punch-gif/#comment-50466
Sun, 12 Jan 2014 14:59:00 +0000http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/?p=59975#comment-50466“Schwinnnng!”
]]>By: Rhino40http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2014/01/11/caps-bench-especially-karl-alzner-very-excited-about-john-erskines-knockout-punch-gif/#comment-50465
Sun, 12 Jan 2014 14:58:00 +0000http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/?p=59975#comment-50465But those suits! Those horrible f***ing suits!!!!
]]>By: Sam E. Dreamerhttp://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2014/01/11/caps-bench-especially-karl-alzner-very-excited-about-john-erskines-knockout-punch-gif/#comment-50459
Sun, 12 Jan 2014 14:30:00 +0000http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/?p=59975#comment-50459No was happier than Tom Wilson when Erskine briefly showed up at the penalty box. Had a very “bash bros” feel to it.
]]>By: Graham Dumashttp://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2014/01/11/caps-bench-especially-karl-alzner-very-excited-about-john-erskines-knockout-punch-gif/#comment-50453
Sun, 12 Jan 2014 13:23:00 +0000http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/?p=59975#comment-50453Geez, I dunno. First, I’m not sure people are watching HNIC because of Cherry, and I’m not certain he attracts much revenue himself. Granted, I’ve never seen a complete broadcast of HNIC myself, but it appears to me that Coach’s Corner plays a very small role in the overall broadcast; I imagine most fans watch for the hockey. But it wouldn’t be the first time I was wrong.

Second, and more critically for me, Don Cherry represents a faction of hockey fans that I find very troubling. He seems to feel that the game should be exclusively Canadian, or at least North American. There doesn’t seem to be too much tolerance of foreign interlopers on his part. Watching him, I start to wonder how it would sound if you replaced the hockey-related language with something more political. He starts to sound a bit scary when you do so. That’s a view that has no place in the modern era, and one that I would not personally be sad to see disappear. Hockey is marginalized enough already as a sport; we don’t need to push it even further into a corner ourselves.

Third, as I think has been pointed out on this blog before, he’s an incoherent side show, an accidental comedian. What’s the point of keeping him around if he can’t even fulfill the stated purpose of his broadcast: to educate “the kids” about hockey? He’s just an anachronous, xenophobic clown, and I don’t think he brings enough analysis to outweigh the many negative factors associated with him.

]]>By: Owenhttp://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2014/01/11/caps-bench-especially-karl-alzner-very-excited-about-john-erskines-knockout-punch-gif/#comment-50448
Sun, 12 Jan 2014 08:53:00 +0000http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/?p=59975#comment-50448life’s short, celly hard
]]>By: Ian Olandhttp://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2014/01/11/caps-bench-especially-karl-alzner-very-excited-about-john-erskines-knockout-punch-gif/#comment-50441
Sun, 12 Jan 2014 06:43:00 +0000http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/?p=59975#comment-50441I was just thinking about this. While he doesn’t really have smart analysis, he does have a ton of value. People really care about what he says. Every time we post about him, there are comments and lots of page views. People are interested in Don Cherry’s opinion.

Is there really anybody that could replace him that would immediately have the same effect? No. It would take years and years and years to get that kind of interest back, and he’s so controversial, you may never attain it.

It’s really up to Rogers on if they would rather be interesting or insightful, because Don Cherry does move the needle.

I personally would keep him but maybe start grooming a successor immediately on his segments somehow someway.

Look at how SNL has done weekend update this year. That’s a good example.